George Neal Station North

George Neal Station North is a coal-fired power station owned by MidAmerican Energy (which, in turn, is owned by Berkshire Hathaway) near Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

Plant Data

 * Owner: MidAmerican Energy Company
 * Parent Company: Berkshire Hathaway
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,046 MW
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 147 MW (1964), 349 MW (1972), 550 MW (1975)
 * Location: 1151 260th St., Sergeant Bluff, IA 51054
 * GPS Coordinates: 42.326658, -96.379203
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * CO2 Emissions: 7,043,476 tons (2006), 6,740,283.49 tons (2008)
 * SO2 Emissions: 21,539 tons (2006), 20,571.10 tons (2008)
 * SO2 Emissions per MWh:
 * NOx Emissions: 11,121 tons (2006), 8,911.85 tons (2008)
 * Mercury Emissions: 260 lb. (2005)

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from George Neal North
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from George Neal North
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed April 2011

George Neal North ranked 51st on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill. The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.

George Neal Station North ranked number 51 on the list, with 612,005 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010, a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, "In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment," reported that Iowa had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash. The report identified 39 coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites in 21 states that have contaminated groundwater or surface water with toxic metals and other pollutants, including George Neal Station North, based on monitoring data and other information available in state agency files. The report built on an earlier 2010 report by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, "Out of Control: Mounting Damages from Coal Ash Waste Sites", which documented similar damage at another 31 coal combustion waste dumpsites in 14 states. When added to the 67 damage cases that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has already acknowledged, the total number of sites polluted by coal ash or coal scrubber sludge comes to at least 137 in 34 states.

"In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and their Environment" found that the coal ash site for the George Neal Station North had exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic at all six wells since 2011, at levels 22 times the MCL. In 2010, MCL for arsenic was exceeded in 15 wells. High levels of iron, manganese and sulfate were also in groundwater downgradient from the monofill.

Other coal waste sites
To see a nationwide list of over 350 coal waste sites in the United States, click here. To see a listing of coal waste sites in a particular state, click on the map:



Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Iowa and coal
 * MidAmerican Energy
 * Berkshire Hathaway
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming